This invention relates to new and useful improvements in devices for the collection and processing of human stool specimens.
The present method for the collection and processing of stool specimens from patients for laboratory analysis usually consists of giving the patient a bed pan or an open container. It is then left to the ingenuity of the patient to determine how to get the stool specimen into the container and after the specimen reaches the laboratory, the technician has to transport the sample to a mixing bowl or blender. The technician then blends the sample and obtains a representative sample for analysis.
This present system is quite offensive for the patient who may have to collect the sample for a 24 to a 72-hour period and it is also offensive for the technician.
The result is that the examination of stools, which can give valuable information for diagnosis, is often omitted or done in a half-hearted manner.